Diane Keaton recalls reuniting with The Godfather cast

Diane Keaton opened up about the Godfather reunion on Lorraine today (June 19).

It's been 45 years since the original film first hit cinemas and to mark the occasion, its director Francis Ford Coppola and stars of the series such as Al Pacino and Robert De Niro came together to celebrate.

Opening up about seeing her former co-stars again after decades apart, Diane admitted it was incredibly emotional.

She told presenter Lorraine Kelly: "It was very moving but it was also very sad because a lot of people aren't with us anymore. You know John Cazale [who played Fredo]? He was one of Al Pacino's closest friends and he was kind of a mentor to everyone on set. Richard Castellano as well – he was a genius."

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Diane then went on to reveal some backstage secrets from The Godfather.

Apparently, those at the top thought the iconic actor was too "boring" to take on the lead role. However, Coppola manage to change their minds.

Opening up about the Oscar-winning director, Diane said: "He is such a genius. How did he do it? He had to fight every step of the way.

Photo credit: Getty Images

"They wanted to get rid of Pacino originally because he was boring but Francis – being the genius that he is – decided, 'Okay, well, in order to keep him, let's shoot that first scene where Michael murders [the chief of police in the Italian restaurant]'... you know, where he hid the guns in the bathroom?

"Al was so great in that first scene that everyone understood straight away that he was not going to be fired."

Prior to the reunion, Diana hadn't seen any of the Godfather films for 30 years.

When she decided to watch them again after three decades, the actress admitted she thought the movies are still "great, so powerful and such genius".